Australians scramble for shelter as Cyclone Yasi approaches

Pool chairs are sunk for safety at a hotel in Cairns, north Queensland, Australia on Feb. 2. Severe Tropical Cyclone Yasi, now a maximum-force Category Five storm, has increased speed and is due to make landfall on the night of Feb. 2 between Cairns and Innisfail.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

A hand painted board protects the front window of a cafe in the northern Australian city of Cairns on Feb 2.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

Local resident Selwyn Hughes sits with his children outside an emergency cyclone shelter after it was declared full and the gate locked in the northern Australian city of Cairns on Feb. 2. Catagory five Cyclone Yasi, expected to be the most powerful storm to cross Australia's heavily populated east coast in generations, is expected to make landfall late on Wednesday night.